Choosing between a dedicated server and a public cloud is a decision that one needs to take after proper research. In dedicated hosting, you can rent out an entire server for your own exclusive use. This means that you will have root access to this server. You can tweak its settings to suit your business objectives. On the other hand, in public cloud hosting, you can get resources in real time from a huge resource pool which belongs to many servers connected in a network. Public cloud hosting is economical because you only pay for resources that you use. This means that people who are relatively new to web hosting may be completely confused about whether they should invest in dedicated hosting or a public cloud. Those who have already signed up for dedicated hosting plans may not be certain if the shift to a cloud is worth the risk.

Public Cloud OR Dedicated Hosting

You can use the following arguments to take a proper decision for your business:

  • Deployment Efficiency:  In dedicated hosting, you can rent a physical server from a web hosting service provider. It is ideally suited for ecommerce stores and interactive websites. You may have to wait for a while during which the host will install the server for you. Public clouds are outsourced and they will run on virtual hardware which is managed by the cloud vendor. You can access the resources within minutes because virtual servers are instantly deployed by the cloud hosting provider.
     
  • Scalability:  In dedicated hosting, you are expected to pay a monthly hosting fee for services and maintenance of this server. Some hosts may make you buy a new server when you need additional resources; others will upgrade your existing server resources with nominal downtime. In a public cloud, you can access resources that you need in real time; there is hardly any waiting time as in the case of dedicated servers.
     
  • Costs:  In dedicated hosting, you will have to pay a fixed hosting fee every month, regardless of how much resources you use. In a public cloud, you can choose to scale up your resources when you need them; you can even downgrade the resources when the demands are low. This means that you end up paying only for resources that you use and nothing extra; there is optimum resource allocation and no wastage. This explains why compared to costly dedicated hosting plans, public cloud hosting plans are cheaper. But as your resource requirements will grow, your costs for this form of hosting will also steadily grow.
     
  • Downtimes:  In dedicated hosting, the chances of there being downtimes are always there when the server malfunctions or crashes because of overload. They do not have many nodes for sharing the workload as in the case of cloud servers where there is no one point of failure. This means that when you choose a public cloud, you can be certain that there will be no downtime. In case any node fails to function, standby nodes take over its workload automatically.
     
  • Security:  When you buy dedicated servers, you will have to deploy robust security measures to ensure that there are no breaches. This is beneficial because you know exactly who can actually access your data. You hold the authority to customize the server’s performance to suit your business goals. You do not have to share it with any other user or company. However, when you choose cloud server hosting, you have to rely on the cloud vendor for security measures. The cloud providers will take appropriate security measures like firewalls, data encryption methods; backup provisions etc to make sure that data cannot be accessed without proper authorization.
     
  • Control:  In terms of control, you are likely to enjoy greater control over the server and its resources when you buy dedicated hosting solutions. In the cloud, you have to depend on the vendor’s offerings and you cannot enjoy total control over the virtual hardware. This is why the dedicated servers are better suited for businesses which have predictable demands or businesses that need very high data security, like financial institutions. Dedicated servers find more use in companies handling big data and databases. Cloud servers are better suited for individuals and companies which need minimum resources but have fluctuating workloads.

So, when you must optimize the site performance without spending a huge amount of money for it, you should switch to a public cloud environment. You can save on both capital and operational costs as you do not have to buy costly hardware for data storage or recruit IT staff to maintain the servers. You can configure the cloud servers to get the necessary level of performance and security almost just like the dedicated server. The best part about choosing a public cloud is that you will only have to pay for resources that you use and nothing extra. You can scale resources up and down depending on the requirements. You can avail of necessary resources in real time and there is no waiting time. While you can upgrade RAM and CPU in the cloud and dedicated hosting, the time taken in the cloud is far less because it is possible through only a few clicks of the mouse. Dedicated hosting can upgrade resources but through a manual process. Moreover, cloud servers are also compatible with both Android and iOS systems unlike dedicated hardware.